Manti Teo

Manti Teo went from a household favorite to a disgraced figure very quickly. Losing the Heisman trophy to Johnny Manziel and getting blown out by Alabama in the national championship game are the least of his worries right now. He has lost his own personal dignity and credibility. Reports came out that the “girlfriend” he was “dating” was actually a fake identity that Teo was tricked into believing. Some would say that Teo was involved with the whole scheme to give him a better chance of winning the Heisman. And some would even go as far as saying that Teo did all this to hide the fact that he was gay and wanted a fake girlfriend to cover it up. Either way, Teo has become a very disgraced figure on college sports.

In the culture that we live in today, the media has a lot of influence on celebrities and the image that they portray to the public. Although the media has crushed Teo’s image and not many people believe in him anymore, some people still do trust him.

I found two blogs about Teo and their opinions on the whole situation. Each blog used the rhetorical appeals of logos, pathos, and ethos to convey their opinions of Manti Teo. I found it very interesting that the blogs each ended with a paragraph showing support for not Teo and building his reputation up. This was effectively done by the use of pathos by both authors. Even I started to rethink my beliefs on Teo after reading those paragraphs. The authors really pulled at my emotions which made me question my beliefs and outlook on the whole situation. The blogs were different in the fact that one recognized what Teo did, but didn’t want to blame him. The author even sympathized for him and felt his pain. He even went as far as saying that he is a champion in his eyes. The other blog also recognized Teo as a liar and stated what he did was wrong, but then went on saying that Teo was the perfect person to attack because of his honesty and trust in other people. The author also states that the world could use some more people like Teo due to his trust in other people. Both blogs use logos to present the facts about Teo lying because they are undeniably true.

Brother Jed

With Brother Jed coming to our campus I thought it would be appropriate to post about him and the cultures of Christians here at Texas A&M. For those of you who don’t know, Brother Jed is a preacher who travels across the country visiting college campus’s to preach. However, his method of preaching is one of condemning people and not about the true love of Jesus Christ. The arrival of Brother Jed brings out many people to academic plaza (where he preaches). The majority of people there are atheists mocking Brother Jed, Christians trying to love people that might be angry or confused at what Brother Jed is saying, and random students passing by in between classes. A lot of what Brother Jed says causes controversies for Christians and really challenges them to assess what they believe. The predominant culture of Christians here at A&M is rather comfortable. People would say that the majority of students at A&M are Christian and it is easy for Christians to make friends and get through college. Brother Jed really challenges the average Christian and tests their faith. Are Christians going to step out and defend their faith? Are they going to become uncomfortable for the very faith that they are defined by? Or are they going to sit back in their comfortable culture? This Christian culture at A&M is a blessing, but can also be detrimental to one’s faith. It can allow Christians to think everyone loves Jesus and causes Christians to be stagnant in their faith. Christians here at A&M should be continually stepping out in their faith and redefine the “culture of a Christian.” That is what I would love to see. True revival will happen when all the Christians here at A&M completely fall in love with Jesus and act like His death on the cross actually means something. We don’t need a religious culture, we need people who love Jesus and that is all that matters to them.

My personal definition of culture

Culture can be a very broad topic and can have multiple definitions. I believe that culture is your way of life. It is what you do and how you do it, even down to the smallest details. Nothing should be left out when thinking about your culture or the type of culture you live in. I also believe that culture is both concrete and abstract. It is concrete because our cars, housing, clothes, food, buildings, and etc. are all part of our culture and can be touched. Parts of our culture that can't be touched (abstract) are ideas, values, beliefs, morals, and desires. Our ideas, values, beliefs, morals, and desires are all extremely important to a culture even if you can't necessarily see them or feel them (sometimes you can). Language is also an abstract part of culture. A group's language is extremely important to them. 

 A definition of culture that I found issue with is the one that stated "Culture is to know the best that has been said and thought in the world." Although I have heard and seen lots of great things in my life, I personally don't believe that I know or have heard the BEST there is. Therefore, does that mean that I don't have culture? To me, this definition is very vague and not accurate. There is a lot more to culture than knowing the best that has been and thought in the world. Also, who decides what "best" is? One person can think that one way is the best and another can think another way is best. Are we wrong if we are different? Who knows? It's up to you to decide.